years back i bought my first brush cuz it was on sale at my local drug mart. I ended up using it with my nivea canned stuff and i was happy with it. Now i still have the same brush years later but i use soaps now and they feel so much better once you get the hang of it.
UPDATE: Going back to the way I shaved in High School which was with a puck and brush. Used Williams Menthol back then with a VDH Boar and Gillette Sensor. Now bought four pucks of VDH Deluxe with Aloe and Shea Butter, still using VDH Boar but this time with a Gillette DE Three Piece Tech. Could see myself buying more pucks of Williams and possibly VDH select and glycerin. Is there a difference between acquisition disorder and hoarding? Could see myself getting brush acquisition disorder and soap acquisition disorder but with blades I have a stockpiling disorder. I go around to local area Wal-Marts, Dollar Generals, And Family Dollars to get the cheapest blades, and they do work for me, and buy 2 packs of ten or four packs of five and condense them into a pack of 20, two personas 10's go into one personna container, four Dollar General packs of Five can go into one with a little elbow grease. I must have around 200 blades easy now. My fear is that either with the new razors coming out like proglide and hydra, will force the DE's off the shelf for room, or the opposite will happen and there will be an influx of people going back to DE shaving because one, its cheaper, or two, because economics will influence a retro fad thingy. Anyways, I'm stockpiling local chain DE razors like Gasoline In Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. Does that make me a DE razor Warrior?::sesel: I'm in Illinois, not Australia!
UPDATE UPDATE: Went back to using foam in a can but with a brush and lots of water. I liked the performance of VDH Shea and Aloe, but just plain can't stand the smell, I cannot describe it. No offense to those who are big fans of it, the performance is great, but its just the smell. Now, I'm very much hanging on the balance as to whether to try other soaps that are available in the area: Williams (found at a couple of grocery stores and a drug store chain) or a local drugstore that carries both VDH Select and Glycerin soaps, go for the plunge and drive a little farther to buy some of the Bigelow creams that I guess are actually Proraso at a couple of Bath and Body works I can get to, or stick to the foams. The foam in the can really isn't that bad when you use a soaked brush, and continue to keep the foam hydrated while on your face. I like the soaps, but feel the foams (while hydrated) form a better barrier of protection on your face than the soaps do. I have no point of reference on which to rely concerning creams in a tube since I have never tried any of them, and if I do decide to try the creams and find they are far superior to the foams I would probably stick to them. Its just that I'm such a miser and such a sucker for a good deal: At the Dollar Tree (as I'm guessing some are familiarized with around here) has a 14 oz. can of Personal Care brand "Sensitive Skin Shave Cream" as it is branded is just a dollar and works well if you use it with water. If you don't, it will crumble up to nothingness on your face if just applied alone and is quite understandably unusable if used in such a manner. But, as mentioned before, when used with plenty of water and a brush gives a surprisingly decent shave. To me it has a delightful lemon-lime scent and says it has menthol in it despite the fact that I cannot feel any. I feel like a cow that needs to be prodded ever so slightly into getting another soap or going for a plunge and at least buy a small tub of cream to see how it works. To me a can of foam seems to last forever with me, as well as a puck of soap, but the tubes look like they would go fast and henceforth not be very cost-effective. It's not that I don't have the money, but I'm just a person who wants performance and value. I can stretch a Dollar General DE blade between 1-2 weeks using a Twinplex, depending if I shave every other day or once every three days. And I have a literal stockpile of DE blades comprising mostly of Dollar General, Family Dollar, and Wally World Personnas, I'd estimate at least around 200 give or take ten or so. So I'm good for a long time in that department. I just hear how some people around here are so passionate about soaps and creams that maybe they are actually better, like its almost an axiom to live by. I'm not challenging or questioning anyone's use of it, as everyone has the right to use whatever they want to use ultimately, but I like to take in other peoples' inputs to see if there is an established overall average consensus of what is considered "Best", and what is considered synonymous with what is considered to be "Wetshaving" by people who consider themselves true adherents to said term. Is this phenomenon an absolute, or a relative pursuit? Sorry to be going on about this and waxing quasi-philosophical. Everyone has their own creams or soaps, razors, blades, aftershaves, etc... It seems to me that "Wetshaving", ultimately, consists of three things at the bare minimum: water, a blade, and some sort of lubricant. Aftershave in my estimation is not an absolute necessity but a highly desired accessory and understandably so condsidering the positive effects of closing pores toning skin etc... I guess my ultimate question is what is considered to be "Wetshaving" by the majority of people on this forum, considering the fact that so many people here have there own personalized preferences and opinions concerning the matter? Just curious.
To me, wet shaving uses water is some form or fashion. From Wikipedia: Shaving can be done with a straight razor or safety razor (called 'manual shaving' or 'wet shaving') or an electric razor (called 'dry shaving'). Here's the whole article.
:sihns011 As long as it isn't using an electric razor and there is water involved, I consider it wetshaving, and that can include cartridge razors and the use of a foam or gel. When I hear or read the term "traditional wetshaving", I think of using a D/E, S/E, or a straight razor, and a soap/cream and brush. At least, that's how I roll!
Thank You Thank you Dridecker. I believe I should have added the "Traditional" part to my query. Now this whole thing makes a lot more sense to me. Like I said, no disrespect or offense intended if some thought I came off like a journalist or an interrogator, I was simply curious and believe me it has got me quite a bit of static from fellow students especially in Jr/Sr High School and even an employer or two. But I'm a firm believer that the only stupid question is the one that is not asked. (Or if you ask a stupid question on purpose in order to exacerbate someone) which I was not, because that just wouldn't be Cricket baby!
I would use whatever makes you happy. There are lots of good brands of shave cream to use out there. But only one brand of good goo if you can call it that. I liked Aveeno when I was using goo. When I was first starting out at this I would use Aveeno and my brush to apply it. I like to think of that as misguided. Applying goo with a brush just makes it thinner. It gets it around the whiskers better, though. But do what you think is best for you.
can sucks IMO. when u use cream and brush, u let the foam wrap around the hairs and soak into the skin, regular can crap sits on top and since its already foamed up before it gets into the skin it does not soak and lubricate the skin as well as u would expect, resulting in tugging, try ARKO brand soaps, very cheap, but works very well.
